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CDOT wants remote blasting system to fight avalanche road closures

An oxygen-propane mixture in specifically designed tubes is exploded at the top of risk zones for avalanche abatement. The exploders are connected to gas storage tanks with enough to operate an entire season. (Provided by Mountec)

Colorado highway engineers are seeking U.S. Forest Service approval to use remote-controlled blasters to trigger small snowslides in an attempt to keep big avalanches from blocking Berthoud Pass.

If the $1.2 million system works, the Colorado Department of Transportation plans to install the propane-powered blasters above mountain passes statewide, replacing the current practice of firing Army artillery shells from howitzers into avalanche chutes.

"A lot of people are getting concerned about their travel times. Our hope and desire is that we will actually never have an avalanche touch the road," CDOT engineer Peter Kozinski said.

But because the blasters detonated from laptops would be used to set off frequent, small snowslides, the project is raising questions about safety, wildife impact and disruption of alpine ecology.

Increasing snowslides would affect alpine vegetation and forest ecosystems by changing natural cycles of disturbance and recovery, said University of Colorado biology professor Bill Bowman, director of CU's Mountain Research Station
.

"The larger effect is on the forest downhill," Bowman said. "The forest development would be fairly different, with less recovery and higher mortality due to the more frequent slides."

Helicopters would haul in five pressurized propane tanks, five exploders, pipelines and materials to build two 100-square-foot buildings above Berthoud Pass (U.S. 40). The equipment would be anchored in concrete near a wilderness area that is habitat for lynx, ptarmigan, bighorn sheep and marmots.

Popular playground

The area is also a popular backcountry playground. The new 16-bed Broome cabin, just west of the pass, draws hikers and skiers into tundra terrain above timberline.

The prospect of fewer avalanches is appealing to many recreational users and guides.

"We support it," said Shan Sethna, director of the 200-member Friends of Berthoud Pass. "Our primary concern is access, and as long as access to the backcountry isn't limited by use of this system, we are in strong support of it."

Winter Park Resort officials and towns in the Fraser Valley long have lobbied to ensure easy access over the pass. Closing the pass keeps travelers from reaching ski slopes, restaurants, shops and condos.

"We are isolated without Berthoud Pass," Winter Park Resort spokesman Steve Hurlbert said. "Any method we can use to keep that pass open is certainly great for the resort, the town of Winter Park, Fraser and the entire valley."

Heavy tra∞c

An average of 6,000 vehicles a day cross Berthoud Pass, a number increasing by about 1 percent a year. CDOT spokeswoman Amy Ford said avalanche-related trouble closed the road last winter for a total of 59 hours and 19 minutes — about 2½ days.

Shelling would continue along Berthoud Pass after CDOT installs the first five blasters above the Stanley slide path, 13 miles northwest of Empire. Drivers still would be stopped during early-morning detonations.

State workers would conduct pre-blasting sweeps of road turnouts where skiers park and set out for the backcountry. A federal document says the pull-offs also would not be plowed before detonations to "discourage use."

State troopers would help track drivers of parked, abandoned and disabled cars.

The blasters are to be fired using a laptop computer, via radio Wi-Fi connections. State operators would not "fire blind" during storms, though the system enables 24/7 blasting even during blizzards, Kozinski said.

"We would have eyes on the target," he said. "It would be extremely unlikely we would have somebody with a button on Sixth Avenue."

For now, Forest Service officials are treating CDOT's proposal as a "categorical exclusion" that requires only a cursory environmental review, agency lands specialist Patti Turecek said.

Public comments will be accepted until Sept. 22. If difficult problems emerge, the Forest Service could conduct an environmental study, Turecek said.

A contract botanist recently concluded there are no endangered plants in the tundra above Berthoud Pass, she said. A federal biologist is looking at potential impact on wildlife.

"Right thing to do"

Compared with artillery blasts, the gas exploder system "is less of an impact to soil and vegetation, has no operator risks and is more reliable than artillery," acting Arapaho National Forest district ranger Lori Denton said in an Aug. 22 letter.

Colorado Mountain Club director Katie Blackett said initial information provided by state and federal authorities "gives us confidence this is the right thing to do," as long as the federal wildlife biologist approves.

"We are hoping, by the end of October, to hear back from him. If there's anything that warrants a full-blown environmental review, we would support that — especially if this is going to be statewide," Blackett said. "Our biggest concern is the environmental impact."

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